Poll

Vote Below:

Welcome to the second day of voting of the House of Lords Amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill. Prime Minister Theresa May saw off the biggest test to her premiership yesterday when pro-EU Tories backed her position on not allowing Parliament take control of negotiations if a final Brexit deal was turned down.

But there are still some more amendments to come today, including the crucial vote on the customs union and single market. It’s understood that the Government has accepted a last-minute alternative amendment tabled by Nicky Morgan and Jacob Rees-Mogg which calls for “a” customs union of some form to be agreed upon in the final deal. Given the new amendment, it is likely the Government will be able to pass this through the Commons today.

The risk now if the Lords rejects the Bill when it returns, is that it may put itself up against the people and the Commons.

Here are some of the other amendments that are still to come:

Amendment 3- Environmental Protections

This will maintain the EU’s current environmental protections in the UK law and will provide a body to enforce compliance.

Proposed by: John Krebs, zoologist and crossbench peer.

Government view: says same principles should be included in a new environment bill.

Chances of success: government option should pass

Amendment 4 – Enhanced scrutiny

Prevents EU law on areas such as work, health and safety, and environmental standards being modified by secondary legislation without the approval of parliament.

Proposer: Dianne Hayter, Labour’s deputy leader of the Lords.

Government view: opposes it.

Chance of success: unlikely.

Amendment 5 – Charter of Fundamental Rights

Transfers the EU’s charter of fundamental rights into domestic law.

Proposer: David Pannick, barrister and crossbench peer.

Government view: opposes it.

Chance of success: minimal.

Amendment 24 – Child Refugees

Requires ministers to seek agreement to maintain the right of unaccompanied child refugees in one EU state to join relatives in the UK after Brexit.

Government view: proposes an intention to seek a deal with the EU so such children can join relatives who are lawful residents in the UK.

Chance of success: government version should prevail.

Amendment 32 – Continued Cooperation

Formalises the idea that EU law can continue in UK law, and the UK can stay in EU agencies.

Proposer: Nick Baines, bishop of Leeds.

Government view: accepts it.

Amendment 51 – The EEA

Obliges the government to prioritise staying in the European Economic Area, known as the Norway option.

Proposer: Waheed Alli, media executive and Labour peer.

Government view: opposes it.

Chance of success: won’t pass; Labour has introduced its own idea.

Amendment 53 – Compliance with EU principles

Guarantees the right of challenge to a domestic law if it fails to comply with the general principles of EU law as set out by the European court of justice.

Proposer: Pannick.

Government view: will accept this as long as such challenges are limited to three years after exit.

Chance of success: government version should prevail.

Labour amendment – Access to Internal Market

An intended replacement to amendment 51 on the EEA, it states that a negotiating objective should be “to ensure the United Kingdom has full access to the internal market of the European Union, underpinned by shared institutions and regulations, with no new impediments to trade and common rights, standards and protections as a minimum.”

Proposer: Labour frontbench.

Government view: opposes it.

Chance of success: extremely slim. Tory rebels unlikely to back an official Labour amendment, not least because what it proposes is more or less impossible under EU rules.